


In Pain We Found Love

by bluenonoe



Category: Free!
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-06 20:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11608005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluenonoe/pseuds/bluenonoe
Summary: When you have a talent and know how to use it, you'll grow into a great person. You can break through anything with your success. But somehow, being talented can cause a pain, and not all people can bear the pain. If two people are sharing their pains, can they make it through together? [OC x Sousuke] [BoyxBoy] -I'm so bad with title and summary, please forgive me-





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> [PLEASE READ THIS FIRST]
> 
> Hello, guys! This is my first work here in AO3 and I'm really excited. I really wanted to make a fanfiction about Free! and this one is going to be Yamazaki Sousuke paired up with my male OC. LOL! I just love yaoi I know...
> 
> Warning : If you don't like yaoi or boy x boy, please leave now if you don't want to be regretful after reading this story.
> 
> Well, I just love Sousuke and he needs some love. Like really, some love. So as the title of this story, pretty much they have something that hurt them and they connect together with it. But, you have to see for yourself how this story will unfold. This story rating is teen and up audiences, but it might go to mature at some point in this story. And actually, I have this story up in fanfiction.net but I just want to post this story in AO3 also. In fanfiction.net, it is under the pen name of CharcoalCrow97.
> 
> And here's a little bit information about my male OC.  
> Name : Kai Alexei Roberts
> 
> DOB : June 19th
> 
> Age : 16 years old
> 
> Weight : 121 lb
> 
> Height : 5'6"
> 
> Favorite color : Blue
> 
> Likes : Figure skating, photography, ice cream (but strawberry), and scissors
> 
> Dislikes : Tacky clothes, obnoxious people (he even more hates it if they are girls), and anything in pink.
> 
> Appearance : Kai has a light tan skin and a lean muscular body. His face is square shaped, angular, and sharp. He has a dirty blonde spiky and messy short haircut. He has an upward slanting eyes and his eye color is gray. His upper lip is thin but the lower is a little bit full. He has a Roman nose type and his prominent feature is his strong jaw.
> 
> Phew, what a long note. Anyway, I let you read this chapter now. Happy reading! 
> 
> Disclaimer : I don't own Free!

CHAPTER 1

Kai Roberts, borned biracial in the United States. My father, Kenneth Roberts was from US and my mother, Sayaka Suzumiya, was from Japan. Living a daily life as biracial person was not that hard. But, living with a certain talent, made you believe that life would be that harsh, the world would treat you that harsh. It took me several realizations to understand that.

When I was 6 years old, I found out a collection of tapes of my mother as a professional figure skater. Sayaka Suzumiya. She was called The Fairy in Ice. She got that on the times she was active with figure skating. I watched every single tape of her performing and her moves were fluid, elegant, and powerful. When she moves her hands, it looked like she was casting a spell and made us fell in love with her. I couldn’t count how many times my jaw dropped after her performances ended. How I wished I could do figure skating as well as Mother.

I watched those tapes for so many times, for several days. Mother eventually found out that I was secretly watching her tape. Not that she was open on the fact that she was a figure skater. She wasn’t angry when she found out. She joined me, to my shock, watching one of her performances with me. She hummed to the music that played and I thought she was reminiscing when she was on the ice rink. When the tape ended, my mother let out a small sigh, but I was clapping and praising her.

“Mother, you were really awesome! And you were also really beautiful and flawless, like a princess!” Mother laughed at my comment, 

“What about now? Am I still awesome, beautiful, and flawless like back then?” Mother asked. 

“You’re always awesome, beautiful, and flawless!” I giggled and then Mother patted my head. 

“Thank you, sweet pea. Let’s go eat dinner, shall we? Father should be coming home soon.” Mother said. “’Kay ‘kay!” I walked towards the door but then Mother called me so I stopped on my tracks. 

“Sweet pea? Will you do me one favor?” I looked at her with a confused face. “Never, watch these tapes again.” Mother said with a very stern face. The face that always shows if she was angry. 

“B-But, why?” I asked her. “Just, don’t. Please, sweet pea.” Mother told me, her face turned into a worried one.   
“B-But, I really want to try what you did, Mother. And one day, I want to ask you to teach me how to figure skate.” Mother closed her eyes and squeezed her nose bridge. “I knew that someday this would happen.” 

Mother whispered to herself and then she looked at me again. “Are you really sure you want to this?” Mother asked firmly. “…Yes. I really want to try, Mother.” I looked at her eyes to show her my determination. 

After a while, Mother sighed again. “Alright then. I will teach you to figure skate. I should let your father know.” My mother’s decision put a cheerful smile on my face and then I ran to hug my hand. “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Mother!” She hugged me back, “Yes, yes, you’re welcome, sweetpea. Now, let’s eat dinner. Your father should come home very soon.”

When my father came home, we enjoyed dinner while Mother told him about me trying to do figure skating. His face was first surprised and then he was laughing, finally he turned really serious. Father and Mother did take figure skating as a serious sport. They did not take it lightly. My mother explained to me this and that, a literal 101 for figure skating. The next morning, my mother and I went to an ice skating rink. She taught me all the basic skills, the posture, and many other things. I always had the drive to learn faster, but my mother always told me to keep one at a time. We always had training together about 1-2 hours a week. And sometimes, my mother let me practice myself so I could know my current ability and what to improve. My mother just gave me practical advices, more like, how should I feel when I do this move, and so on. 

After 2 years of training and experienced how it felt to be a figure skater, it was a tough road. And because of that, I couldn’t help but to extend my training regime. My mother wasn’t kidding on how painful it is if you had an accident. Well, it’s not that I had a terrible accident or some sort. Sometimes I fell and it was not a good sensation, of course. Everytime I fell, I realized right after that I did something wrong. Mother always told me, if I practiced jumps and then repeatedly fall, then I’ve been doing nothing but practicing myself to only fall. 3 years after that, I’d been stabilizing and refining my skating skills. Figure skating is not just a sport. It’s a sport with artistic side. So, while I was practicing my skills, my mother also invited some of her friends to help incorporated my moves with music. 

Another 2 years had passed, and I was old enough to enter the junior championship. To be honest, I was really afraid. The pressure of showing your skills in front of many people and a set of judges were scaring me out. 

“Kai, sweet pea, I know you’ve been telling you want to do figure skating just for fun. And I know well that this is where you can get as much freedom as you can. But, won’t you try once for a championship?” My mother asked me gently.

“It’s little bit challenging and intimidating than the usual, but you’ll find more fun when people are praising you.” I was a little unconvinced because I was still afraid and regarding how intorverted I was, I just afraid to do anything in front of many people. 

“Okay, I’ll promise you, after the championship, if you’re not feeling that a championship is not your thing, you can stop. I won’t push you any further than this. How about it?” After few moments of thinking and reconsidering, I said yes. 

“I’ll give it a try. Hopefully, I won’t embarrass my self.” I said. “You won’t. I believe in your skills. Besides, doing this will help you finish that promise list of yours, right? You wrote that you want to be less introverted.” 

She was right at that point. “Alright, mother. You got me. Let’s just get on with preparing for the championship. I need to be able to do triple jumps.” Mother just laughed it off like she doubted I would learn that any time soon.

About several weeks of preparing for the championship, I tried really hard. My mother and I already discussed what should I do for both my short program and free skating program, and we decided to not do anything extreme, but not standard either. The day of the championship, I was really nervous, both my mother and my father had been nothing but supporting me. Although, it’s not a championship to qualify skaters who can compete to nationals, I was still feeling nervous. My tummy was churned because of it. 

“Kai, you’ll be fine. Just remember what we had practiced. Remember that this ice rink is your palace and you decide what you want to do in it.” 

I took a deep breath and released it. I turned my head to see the crowds. It’s not many, but it’s still intimidating. Then, I saw my father in the supporter seat, waving two small flags, vigorously, with his both hands. And there was a big “K” written on the flag. I smiled at Father. He’s always been a sweet person. No wonder Mother fell for him.

My short program went without a hitch, I scored myself a pretty good score, and I was placed second at the moment. 

“It’s almost your turn. Remember the routine, sweetpea. Goodluck.” My mother hugged me. “Thank you, Mother.”   
After the skater before me finished, it’s my turn to perform the free skating session. I skated to the middle of the rink. I pull my legs a little bit apart from each other, lifting my left hand up and then my right hand only until the middle of it. When the music started, I began my step sequence, following the classic music beat. I thought of this routine as me getting to know my castle. I moved my hands as graceful as I can, remembering how my mother did it when she was still figure skating. I began spinning as I thought that this castle of mine was so enormous and I could do anything in here. But, I felt that I was still trapped. I needed my castle to take my colours. So, I did my jump as if I was spreading my colours to my castle. Then, I did my combination of jumps too add more colours. I felt that I was happy enough that I could put a life to my castle. I skated around again to delve further into my castle. I laid my back while I skated to feel the happiness and warm of my castle. I returned to my normal stance as I felt that one part of my castle was not complete. I sensed something horrible and I couldn’t let that tainted my castle. I skated towards the disturbing part and it was indeed a troubling feel. I jumped and I spinned as the troubling feeling tried to make me wear its colours. When I was safe enough, I gained my composure and started to do my best scratch spin. I was starting steady and soon enough I gained speed that I spinned really fast as if I was spreading my colours rapidly. And finally, the troubling feeling disappeared. My castle was finally complete.

After I pushed myself back to the reality, I was met with huge round of applause. It wasn’t this many after I finished my short program, but I was glad that they liked this more. I bowed to them and then I went out from the ice rink. 

“You did it, Kai!” My mother immediately hugged me. “I’m so proud of you! Your performance was outstanding!” This proud feeling just washed over me and I couldn’t feel happier for myself. 

“Really, Mother?” My mother nodded to me and then she led me so I could see the final score.

“The scores please.” The announcer said. “Kai Roberts has earned in the free skating, 149.65.” The crowd started to cheer and I was gawking at the score because to me it was quite high. 

“And the total score is…224.83! Kai Roberts is in the first place.” 

My thought was going everywhere, trying to comprehend that I won first place. My very first gold medal. My mother hugged me from me side and then I turned to her. 

“Kai! Sweetpea! I am so proud of you. You’re just beyond amazing.” I hugged my mother back and after that I stood up and bowed to everyone in the stadium.

Father ran to me afterwards and then he hugged me tight, lifting me then spinning around. “My boy is taking over the center stage! Oh, I’m so so proud of you, sweet pea.” I laughed from the sensation and after a while my father put me down. 

“After this, we’re going to celebrate, okay? You deserved it.” Then, I was given my first gold medal and I held it with pride as many photographers took pictures from the gold, silver, and bronze medalists. Father took me to a fancy sushi restaurant that I always liked and we ate so happily there.

“Kai, now that you have tasted how it is to compete in the championship and even won your very first gold medal, how do you feel right now? Still want to continue? Remember, I still hold my promise.” 

I thought that figure skating was a sport that I really like. I love it so much. Doing this had been nothing but fun and invigorating. Feeling the new sensation when I competed in the championship, it made me just want to explore more. I want to be more skilled in this. I want to be more special. 

“I want to continue, Mother. I think I’m ready for this adventure.” My mother responded with her most gentle smile and my father did too. 

“Alright then. You can depend on me to make you the greatest figure skater out there.” My mother said. But then, her face turned into a frown, and she was glancing to the other way, as if she was trying to remember something. 

“What is it, Mother?” My mother finally looked at me in the eyes. 

“I’ve been trying…I mean…I really wanted to tell you, why did I retire from being a figure skater.” I gasped shortly and I saw my father eyes went wide. “H-Honey, if you still uncomfortable-“ My mother put her hand on his. “It’s okay, darling. I’m ready.” Then she turned again at me.

“Well, it happened when I was still quite young. Maybe when I was in the mid to late twenties. My career as a professional figure skater was still sky rocketing. It’s beyond me that my career would go that high. But, I kept going because figure skating was my passion. I was at a national championship one time, and it was in US. That’s when I met your father. He was one of my fans that have guts to approach me. We, communicate to each other soon after, to stop him for screaming out my name too loud in front of many people in the city. We talked and we found many similarities between us. There’s still one week before the championship started and I was staying at one hotel. We… Well, I admit we were too hasty so I invited him to my room. And we spent one night together. You must not know the details until you’re older enough. And in that hotel, I was staying with the other competitors, including my rival. Ugh, saying her name would make me sick, so I won’t say it. Few days later, I realised that I’m not feeling well. I suddenly wanted to throw up and I was worried if I were pregnant. So, I called your father. Thankfully, he’s still responsible for his actions, so he quickly decided to meet me in the hotel. We wanted to make sure, so I did a pregnancy test. I went into the bathroom nearby in the lobby and did it. And the result was suprisingly positive. I panicked of course, what should I do? Obaa-chan and Ojii-chan really hate it if I were pregnant before I’m even married. I prepared myself to how should I bring the news to your father. I came out and tell your father about it. He panicked even more. But then, someone surprised us, which was my rival. Without my knowing, she was recording my panic rumbling that I was pregnant, inside one of the stalls. She recorded me and decided to play dirty, by blackmailing me. I couldn’t believe she would do such thing, just for a gold medal. She wanted me to drop out from the championship, then retire and never show up again in the figure skating sport, and in return, the rumor won’t spill. I only had time to think until the day before the championship began, and it was only 2 days left. They were two of my most stressful day in my life. She played me well, so I decided to give up my career and return to Japan, then soon, arrange a marriage.” 

My mother let out a huge sigh and I had mixed feelings. I couldn’t believe that such person was even alive and I wished that she experienced an agonizing pain until she’s dead. My motivation just went bigger after hearing her, even though my mother couldn’t achieve her dream, I wanted to be her dream. 

“Your father kept blaming himself, but I kept telling him that it’s not, it’s our fault. But, I told him to stop saying it because I don’t want you to be our mistake. We want you to be our blessing, Kai.” 

My mother clasped my both hands and her tears dropped from both of her eyes. And so did a tear from my right eye. “I-I will do my best, Mother. I want to reassure you that I’m your greatest blessing.” 

My mother pulled me into a hug and then my father joined us. I will grow into an amazing figure skater and you will be really proud me, so I thought.

Until I was 15, I joined as many championships as I could. And I managed to achieve 2 gold medals and 1 silver medal. The silver medal I got after the first championship that I joined, and then the next 2 gold medals I got from the next championships. My life as a figure skater was slowly and surely growing into a promising future. I always set a new record for my personal score in every championship that I participated. I also grew to have some competitors who hated me, but acted really friendly just because of the media. Well, me? I liked myself to be neutral. And I was so glad to have some adoring fans. It’s cute when I received many gifts from them after I performed. It surprised me that I have many fans when I was at high school. It was just my first year and several girls, from first years to third years, were swarming me. Sure, it gave me some seriously intimidating glares from the eyes of jealous boys. I wouldn’t mind in the end. I can deflect all of those stares and still walking alive. But, things went pretty upside down, when I saw something was posted on the news, that I was banned from figure skating sports. I didn’t know how to react, to think, or even to breathe anymore. The world around me was already falling down and I hoped the earth could swallow my body right now. 

“Kai? Kai?! Kai, what happened?! Your water is spilling over your shirt!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the continuation of Kai's story and taking action after the sudden turn of events shocked him completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to quickly post the second chapter so we can reach where Sousuke comes in sooner. So, here we go, the continuation of Kai's backstory. I hope you like it!

CHAPTER 2

“Kai? Kai?! Kai, what happened?! Your water is spilling over your shirt!” I was woken up from my trance when my good friend from middle school, Jamie, shook me. 

“Shit! Oh, God! I’ll head to the restroom.” I quickly made my way towards the rest room, ignoring several curious glances towards me. When I reached the restroom, I quickly dialed my mother’s number. “C’mon, Mother, please, I need help.” After few rings, my mother answered. 

“Hello, sweet pea. What’s the m-“ I quickly cut her in, “Mother, have you seen the news?!” I told her, “News? What news?” My mother asked. 

“I AM BANNED! I CAN’T COMPETE IN FIGURE SKATING ANYMORE!” There was a momentarily silence after I said that and I heard the phone fell. Then, I heard rumbling and I thought that my mother was looking for the news. 

“S-Sweat pea?” My mother finally responded, “What in the world happened?” she asked. “I don’t know, Mother, I. DON’T. KNOW!” I found myself almost teared myself up, “I was just about to have lunch and when I opened my phone, I found that news! I didn’t know how to react, Mother.” I tried to calm myself down, but I kept panicking. 

“Okay, Kai. What I’m going to do right now is going to identify the problem. Then, I want you to calm down and focus on your study for today. We’ll figure something out, okay?” My mother assured me and I began to calm down. “O-okay, Mother. Thank you so much. I could’ve died from panic attack if you weren’t here for me.” I wiped the tears on my eyes. I tried to control my breathing again. 

“Alright, I’ll pick you up after school. Just stay calm, sweet pea. You’re going to be okay.” I nodded to myself. “Thanks, Mother.” I hung up the phone and return to the cafeteria.

I met Jamie who was still eating at our table. “Kai? What happened? Are you okay?” Jamie asked me, looked at me with a worried face. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just another silly thing. Don’t worry.” 

Then, Jamie looked at me with a confused face. “Okay, but if something happened, you’ll tell me, right?” I turned to smile at her. “Of course. And you too.” 

We ate our lunch and after that we continued to study until the school’s over for the day. Jamie and I parted ways since she was busy preparing herself to join the student council and I went to the parking lot to find my mother. When I saw her car, I immediately ran to her and went in. 

“M-Mother, did you find anything?” I saw my mother gripped the steering wheel really tight. I held my knee tight to brace myself. “Kai.” My mother turned at me with her stern face. “Are you on drugs?”

I was confused. Beyond confused. My mother explained to me that the reason I was banned, it’s because I was accused using performance-enhancing drugs. It was not true at all, I thought. So, my mother and I came to my defense. We tried to prove that I didn’t use that kind of drugs. My mother explained her position as my coach and told them that I didn’t use any of those drugs. But, to our shock, there was an evidence, which was a picture of a man and I exchanging what it looked like a small prescription of drugs when I was at the outside of my changing room. I told them, it wasn’t that performance-enhancing drug. I told them I was asking for parasetamol because I had a quite troubling headache and I didn’t want it to be a hindrance to my performance. But, somehow the small bottle looked like the bottle of the performance-enhancing drug. I couldn’t prove anything more. I already dumped the bottle, knowing that prescription was enough for only one use. I was desperate. I begged but they didn’t believe me. In the end, they decided that I was banned for 2 years. 

At the end of my defence, I met my rival Lucas Tillman. I really hated his guts since the day he showed up to my face for the first time. His thirst of popularity was really sickening. And, it was bad enough for me that he’s the first to know that I was banned. Like, why in the world, from all people, he must be the one to witness my fall? 

“You should’ve been more careful, Kai. But, I’m really gonna miss you, rival.” His face was all sad and sorrow, but I knew deep inside he was sprouting joy. Yeah, right. It’s without a doubt. 

I went home and shared the shocking news to my father. He was surprised and then suddenly went angry. But Mother told him, that it was already too late. It’s already decided anyway. 2 years won’t hurt, right?, I thought, I’m not going to stop from being a professional figure skater. But I didn’t know how wrong I was. The next day, I was really surprised that the news of me being banned was spreading like wild fire. People were starting to suspect me for bad things, some laughed at me, especially the jealous boys. People were starting to leave me alone. They would say that hanging with someone like me would give you a bad influence. Even the worst thing was I was suspected that I’m to other drugs. I tried to fight back, but it’s no use. Jamie, who was always with me, kept supporting me. Although, she joined the student council, people there told her to stay away from me because it would give such a bad image for a student council member hanging out with a bad seed. So, I noticed soon enough that she started to distance herself from me. In the end, I had no one that I can be with in school, except my homeroom teacher. He didn’t believe that I wasn’t using drugs. He’s a PE teacher. He knew that I have excessive stamina that I don’t even need to use drugs. He was really sweet, but I couldn’t take risk of ruining his reputation as a teacher with spending a lot of time with him. But, he’s a really good listener. He would see me and checked me out most of the time because everyday it was painful for me. I wished that I didn’t have to go to school when everytime I go there, it just really stressful. I always came home looking awfully stressed. My mother, she always tried to cheer me up, but I just put up a forced pained smile and went straight to my room. My father would always treat me something nice or distracted me with other things to do, but it’s just that, the pain was never relieved.

I couldn’t believe that the scandal with me and drugs, was destroying my life little by little. I’d been surviving for a whole year, and it was time for me to receive my report card. I came with my father and my mother to meet my homeroom teacher. They discussed about many things, especially my situation. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, I would like to address something, regarding the situation of Kai and his surroundings in this school.” I looked down to my feet because I know the discussion will go quite unpleasant. 

“Yes, Mr. Gaillard?” My mother responded. Then, my teacher cleared his throat, “Well, I put a lot of thoughts about this and seeing Kai’s condition everytime I see him in school. I didn’t think, it’s good anymore, or even healthier for him, if he stays here. I’m saying here as the person who really cares about him the most in this school, because I can’t stand seeing him being pushed away, bullied, or hiding in the bathroom stalls. The feeling of being unwanted, it’s just too much for him. I want him to grow to be a healthy young lad, but if he keeps staying here, it just going to break him, eventually. I don’t want this environment to cause him any further damage.” 

Both of my parents were silent, hearing Mr. Gaillard opinion. And I felt my tears were welling up and then I looked at Mr. Gaillard. He looked at me with his concerned face. 

“We know, sir. It’s also painful for us to see our son looked stressed everyday after he goes home from school. We were thinking, if we should move to another country.” I turned to my father who just spoke. 

“T-To where?” My father then looked at me. “To Japan. To your mother’s home.” 

Then my mother turned to speak, “But how about you, darling? I can’t let you give up your job just to go to Japan.” My father frowned at the statement. He knew that moving to Japan would make him to sacrifice his old job in the US. 

“I know, darling, I know.” My father rubbed his hand on my mother’s. “I’ll find a way, so I can still do my work in Japan. I’ve been really trying to, but just give me a time.” 

There was momentarily silence and then my teacher broke it. “I understand you’re having difficulties here, but I hope that you can solve this soon. If you’re already set, just tell me so I can take care of Kai’s resignation.” After the meet was concluded, we went home right away. Everything was silence when we were at home. I looked at my mother and my father, then they told me to go to my room. When the night came, we were having a dinner, but it still had the same tension as it was in the afternoon. 

“Kai?” My father started. “Your mother and I, we have discussed some things, regarding our move to Japan. You and your mother should go to Japan, without me.” 

I looked at him with shock, “W-Wha… T-Then, what about you? You’re staying here?” I saw my father’s eyes faltering and he couldn’t look at me. “I-It’s just for a few months. A year, at best.” A year?, I thought.  
“W-Why is it always like this? You guys always made decisions without considering my vote if I’m agree to this or not?! Well, I don’t want you to stay here! I want you, to go with us! Mother must be disagreed with you! She would help you to find a job there, don’t you trust her?! She would do anything for you, don’t you trust her?!” 

My father then stood up, towering me, anger drawn all over his face. “Kai Alexei Roberts! How dare you raise your voice towards your father! I decide this for our own good! For your OWN good!” My father yelled at me. 

“B-But, do you really think that not being here with me and mother is good for me? Well guess what? It’s not! I need you so much, and so my mother. You just don’t know what’s good for me!” I put stood up and then ran to my room. “Kai!”, My father called me but I kept running to my room. 

I entered my room and then slammed the door hard. I laid my back against the door and then slid to the ground. I was crying really hard, my tears were hot, it was a mixed feeling, angry and sad. He didn’t know how much I needed his support too.

Several minutes later, I heard a few knocks on my door. “Kai, can you open the door, please?” I let him be, “I’m…I’m sorry for yelling at you. I haven’t explained everything to you. Can you please let me talk this out to you?” 

I walked to the door my hand stopped at the doorknob. I didn’t turn it, yet. “You should know that I really love you. You’re my greatest treasure. I will never do anything to lose you.” I turned the doorknob then, and open the door for a little bit. I walked to my bed and sat on it. 

My father finally opened the door and the look on his face was regret. He approached me then crouched so he’s on the same eye level as I. My father wiped the tears that were still running down and then he held my hands with his.

“Kai. I’m really sorry. Father also really stressed about this decision. It’s a hard choice to make. I also do not want to let you both go. I really care about you and your mother, beyond everything in this world. Your mother told me, if I started something new there, it would took a long time for me to able to support our family. And your mother can’t work as much as she can as a fashion designer when we moved to Japan. You know your mother sometimes needs to travel a lot because of her occupation. Both of us are having difficulties with our jobs and moving to Japan. So, I’d decided and then told her, that I’ve been trying to suggest an idea to open a branch in Tokyo, Japan. You know that my company is international now. I could use some favors from my colleagues back at work and they can help me build a new branch in Tokyo. But, I know it will take some time, just give a few months until one year, and I will come straight away to Japan, to you and mother.” I nodded at him and tears started to fall down again. 

“You will be okay, son. I know. You really need my support but I want you to be strong. Now, will you do me a favor? Be a good boy and look out for your mother until I come back?” Father looked at me in the eye. 

“O-Of course, Father.” I said. “That’s my boy. Come here.” Then, I jumped to hug him and cried on his shoulder, while he’s stroking my hair.

The next few days, my resignment from my high school was already done. I said my goodbye to Mr. Gaillard. I also sent an email to Jamie. 

Dear Jamie Stevenson,

Thank you so much for all the time we spent together. I’m moving to Japan right now. My parents and I decided to move there because my parents worried about me if I stay too long in the US. I just want to let you know that because you’re still a good friend to me. I will wait for your response! I hope you make a successful life there. Good luck with your student council!

From your dearest friend,  
Kai

After that, my father took mother and I to the airport. My father waited for both mother and I until we’re entering the gate. “Thank God your mother taught you Japanese. If she didn’t, I wonder how you can survive.” My mother laughed at me and I joined her. 

“Well, it’s just about adapting on hearing them talking now. I’ll be okay.” My mother nodded to me and then she suddenly frowned. 

“Mother, what’s wrong?” I asked her. “I’m… I am sorry, Kai. If only… If only I didn’t push you, even ask you to do figure skating, we won’t be experiencing this, especially you.” I sighed a little and then I held her hands. “It’s okay, Mother. I’m sorry too for disappointing you, if I wasn’t careless, none of this would happen.” 

My mother looked at me with a teary eye. “No! I told you so many times before it’s not your fault. Your father and I believe you. We believe you’re not on drugs. It’s just a terrible coincidence, your medicine and that drug.” My mother said to me. 

“Thanks, Mother. You know, I think I don’t have the drive anymore to become a well-known professional figure skater, just like you. I’m still young, so I still have time to figure out myself, to know what I’m passion about. And it doesn’t have to be a professional figure skater.” I kind of knew it’s not true and my mother looked at me with this pained smile. We both know that we’re traumatized by this.

“You guys need to stop frowning and draw some happy face to yourselves. It would definitely ruin your beautiful faces.” My father suddenly told us. Both mother and I looked surprised but then we laughed. 

“Aw, stop, darling. I’m not that young anymore.” Then my father came to my mother and pecked her lips. 

“But you’re still my Ice Fairy.” He grinned at her. My mother put both her hands on his cheeks. “You better come back to us as soon as possible, okay? That’s an order.” My father responded with his cheeky grin, “Yes, ma’am.” 

My mother put a kiss on his forehead. “I guess it’s time for us to go.” My mother said and all of us stood up. My father opened his arm and snuggled both mother and I. His tall figure always made us feel safe and warm. 

“I’m going to miss you, Father. Be safe, okay?” I told him. “I know. Both of you, too. Keep smiling and wait for me, okay?” 

“Okay”

We finally got on our plane. And the plane had finally departed. My mother told me stories about her time in Japan especially her hometown. 

“Iwatobi. There’s my hometown. It’s a very calm place, I say. Especially the beach, oh how I love the beach. It’s so blue and breathtaking. Oh, right, you haven’t seen much of them, have you? We only took you there when you’re still a baby and when Ojii-chan passed away, of course you can’t remember much.” I laughed along when my mother told me various funny stories of her back at her hometown. 

“So, how did you find out about figure skating?” I asked her. 

“Well, I was still a little and one day my friend took me to an ice rink nearby town. We were really having fun and all. I was able to learn quickly because I was athletic back then. I still am of course. And because I was able to learn quickly, I grown an interest towards it. Sometimes, after school, I would go straight to the ice rink to skate. And one day, I met my coach. He saw my potential and he introduced me to figure skating. Boy, talk about hard work. He was really trained me like a maniac. I hope I wasn’t like that, was I?” I shook my head quickly. “Well, that’s about it and I started to compete and until I grew really famous.” She told me. 

“Then, how about your friends now? That introduced you to ice skating.” I asked her. “Well, all of them did not find that ice skating as their hobby. They found another sports to like. One of my friends likes to swim. He was really good at that. Oh, another friend of mine also likes classical music. She was playing in an orchestra. It was really fun to watch them.” 

My mother sure had a lot of fun back then. I wonder if I could get a lot of fun too like that in there. “Sweet pea, I just remember. Back when I still active figure skating, I was helping this friend of mine. She’s actually the owner of the ice rink I used to go. Well, I heard she open a class for kids and teens to learn who want to learn to skate. After I went international, I stopped visiting her. Do you mind if we go pay her a visit? I just want to make sure that everything is okay. I owe her a lot.” I looked at my mother with a reassuring smile. 

“Of course not. It makes me wonder since you’ve been telling me a lot about it.” My mother chuckled at my response. “Thank you very much, sweet pea.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kai and Sayaka are finally arrived to Japan. Now, how will Kai deal with his fresh life in Japan? Making new friends? Or forgetting figure skating?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys, I decided to update again. And this is what we're waiting for, Sousuke is coming to this story. LOL. Have fun reading!

CHAPTER 3

We landed on Japan, finally. But, I was having a jet lag. My mother, she was completely fine. Well, that’s what you got for travelling a lot. 

“Kai, the cab is here. We should get going.” 

My mother called me and quickly went inside the car. My head was throbbing and the plane was not really comfortable. My neck was hurting a bit. I took a quick nap until we reached Iwatobi. 

“Sweet pea, we have arrived.” 

We’re in front of a house, with the houseplate that was written “Suzumiya” on it. We’re here. The house wasn’t that big, but it wasn’t that small either. It’s a modern yet still have a Japanese look on it. Well, my new home sweet home. 

A/N : From now on, the text if it’s spoken in Japanese it will be just a normal, and if it’s spoken in English, it will be a bold and italic text. 

“Oh my, if it isn’t Saya-chan and Kai-chan. Come in, come in!” 

Obaa-chan led us inside and I couldn’t remember that the house was pretty big and la ittle bit fancy. That reminded me that my mother told me that Ojii-chan was a business tycoon. He built many hotels all around Japan and some on other countries. Mother said that the hotel was still rated 5 stars. 

“I’ve been waiting so long to see all of you.” Obaa-chan smiled at us. 

“I’m sorry, Mother. The plane was delayed a bit.” My mother replied and then behind Obaa-chan came a very tall young man, with a black hair, wearing a teal shirt and a black pants. 

“Ah, Sousuke-kun? Is that really you? You’ve grown so much!” My mother said. He knew this guy? “Good evening, Sayaka-san. It’s nice to see you again.” 

When I looked at his face, he is…really scary. He frowned when he looked at me. I was too scared so I asked my mother in English. 

“Mother, do you know him? How do you know him?” and then out of nowhere, “Sousuke-kun. I want you to meet my son.” Then she looked at me, “Come on, Kai, introduce yourself to him.” How cruel. I just want to ask his name to you, not to the person directly. I quietly stood up and looked at him. I had to look up because how tall he was. 

“N-Nice to meet y-you. I’m Kai Roberts. It’s okay if you want to call me Kai.” I believed I still not get used to speaking Japanese. But oh well. “So am I and I’m Sousuke Yamazaki.”

I returned to my seat and Obaa-chan explained to me that his father was the next executive director who runs Ojii-chan’s hotels. My mother even told me that Yamazaki-san’s father was one of her close friends and he’s the one who interested in swimming. Sousuke was also doing swimming. Well, that explained it, that tall and muscular body of his. He said that he’s currently a third year at the Samezuka Academy, an all-boys school. Since his father was working with Ojii-chan, their family was also close to ours. Sousuke told us that he frequently visited here on most of his free time. Obaa-chan actually took care a lot of him when he was still in Iwatobi. His parents weren’t home at much, so Obaa-chan decided to take care of him so he wouldn’t be alone. It made me think that Mother got her kindness affectionate side from Obaa-chan. 

“Oh, it’s already late, Kai, you should get to sleep. We need to take care of your transfer at Iwatobi High School, first thing tomorrow.” Mother said to me. I nodded to her and then I helped Mother cleaning up things. 

“Then, I should take my leave. The last train tonight will be coming soon.” Sousuke told us and then he got up to bow to Obaa-chan. “Alright, my dear. Just be careful on your way back.” Obaa-chan replied. “Take care.” Both Mother and I told him. He looked kind of surprised when he looked at me, but I just smiled at him. 

Mother showed me to my bedroom. It was actually her room when she was still a little. It’s still clean and some of her stuffs were still there. Mother was reminiscing when she looked over her stuffs and that made me realize in this small rural place, Mother created so many memories. To me, the best part of the room was that my room actually connects to the back yard. Well, the view of the back yard could be seen from the glass doors. When I went out from those doors, I found out that there was a door that connects the front yard to the back yard. And, the first thing that came out from my thought was that I can easily snoop out. That’s amazing. After a little tour of my room, I decided to take a good night sleep.

The next morning, after we quickly managed my transfer to Iwatobi High School, I was appointed to Class 2-1. I was already with my uniform. 

“Good morning, class.” My homeroom teacher came in and I was trailing behind him. “Today, I’m going to introduce to all of you, your new classmate, starting today.” Then he looked at me. “Please introduce yourself.” 

I nodded at him and then when I looked at in front of the class, I got various faces and whispers. High probability was that I looked foreign. “Good morning, everyone. My name is Kai Roberts. I just moved from America. It’s very nice to meet you all.” They kept eyeing me like I was some thing ready for sale. 

But then, “It’s nice to meet you, too, Kai-chan!” a response came from a cheerful guy with a honey-blond hair, which looked funny to me. And he used –chan on me, which annoyed me a little bit. I smiled at him regardless, and then a guy next to him, whose hair was blue and wearing eyeglasses, was elbowing him. 

“Right, to get you to your seat. Let’s see… There!” He spotted an empty seat in the second row from the back, next to the window. 

“Can anyone near him just lend your book just for today?” And yeah, I sat next to that happy orange guy from before. “Hello, Kai-chan! Here, let me lend you my book.”

Throughout the class, I had been trying really hard to understand the whole material. When Japanese was not my mother tongue, I had to do double work to understand them. At the last period, I felt that my brain was a little bit fried. What I needed to dunk my head to water or, ice skate. 

“Who am I kidding, it will make me remember the bad memories.” I told myself. And then, someone jumped behind me. 

“Hello, Kai-chan!” 

I yelped at the sudden attack. I turned around to find that Nagisa who scared me. 

“H-Hazuki, you’re scaring me. Thank God I didn’t smack you.” Nagisa smiled while scratching the back of his head. 

“S-Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” Nagisa laughed. 

“So, have you adapted to this school yet?” He asked. 

“W-Well, not really. I still want to figure out what I want to do in this school.” 

Nagisa put a hand on his chin and then scratching it. “Hmm… How about joining clubs? It would help you figure out what you want to do.” 

Then, Rei joined from behind Nagisa. “Well, we have variety of club activities in our school. From sports and non-sports. Why don’t you check them all, one by one?” Rei told me. 

“Especially the swim club, you should go and see!” I looked at Nagisa after he told me that. 

“Why should I?” I realized that my question was kind of cold, but it didn't affect Nagisa. 

“Because it’s fun! Swimming is fun and the people there are also fun to hang to.” Rei sighed at his comment. 

“Don’t push him too much, Nagisa.” And Nagisa pouted, which made me laugh, at the response. 

“Alrighty, I should go take a look around and see which ones interest me. Thank you very much, guys! I’ll see you soon.” 

Then, Nagisa and Rei waved at me. “We’ll see you soon, Kai-chan! Good luck finding the right club!”

So, after I asked around the school to get to know each clubs, I found sports clubs such as tennis club, basketball club, rugby club, table tennis club, track club, judo club, kendo club, and track club. The possibility for me to join any of them was none. And then, I also found some cultural clubs, such as photo club, art club, and caligraphy club. Well, I could join the art club since I was in elementary I liked to draw sketches of scenery. But, they were kind of desperate. I thought that I would check that club later. I was interested with the photo club too. I owned a DSLR so that wouldn’t be a problem. 

But, there’s one club remaining, which was the swim club. I was not so sure to join the swimming club, but I knew in the past that Father trained me to swim. Well, the truth is he was an Olympic swimmer. But, to my surprise his passion was not in swimming. He’s interested in sports science and health. I remembered what he said that being an Olympic swimmer was only a stepping stone. He used that opportunity to learn and that led him to his job that he’s taking at the time. Father suggested swimming to me, although he knew my passion was figure skating, but he said that it’s great to be skilled at other sports. So, I took the chances and learned as many as I want. 

As I walked around the school hallway, I saw Nagisa and Rei again. This time, they were walking with two other boys. One with black hair and one with brown hair. Their presences told me that they’re third years. The light brown hair guy was really tall and big. It reminded me of Sousuke. 

“Kai-chan!” The cheerful voice called to me again. I approached them and greeted them. “How was touring the clubs? Find any good ones?” Rei asked me. 

“None really piqued my interest. The very clubs that piqued a little of my interest were only the art club and the photo club.” I told him. 

“Ah, so you can draw, Kai-chan?” I looked at Nagisa who asked me. “Y-Yeah. But, not that good.” 

Realizing that I might look rude to those two seniors, I turned to them and greet them. “Haru-chan, Mako-chan, this is Kai-chan. The new transfer student from our class.” Nagisa told the two. The black haired guy was named Haruka Nanase and the brown hair guy was named Makoto Tachibana. 

“It’s nice to meet you Nanase-senpai, Tachibana-senpai. Anyway, Hazuki, I was wondering about the swim club. Do you know about them? Since you looked really hyped about the swim club last time we talked.” Nagisa and Makoto face lighten up at my question

“You want to join us, Kai-chan?” Nagisa asked me with hype. 

“W-Well, I just want to check it out first. But, are the four of you the members of the swim club?” I asked. 

“Yeah. Only four of us who swim in this club.” Makoto replied. 

“I see… Then, is this a men swimming club?” I asked again. 

“Well, in this club we expect the members who really wants to swim for fun. So, we open to anyone. But, looking at us, it might look like a men swimming club.” Makoto said. 

“Is that so? To be honest, I want to see this swim club, if you don’t mind.” Then, I got a response from Haruka. “Can you swim? What kind of styles that you have learned?” 

I almost forgot what are their names when Father mentioned it, but I always knew the moves. “I can do freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly, and backstroke really well. But, my skills are probably crap right now because it’s been a few years since I last swam.” Haruka only nodded but the others looked expectant. 

“That’s so cool, Kai-chan! Do you want to test your swimming skills right now?” I surprised at the question but at the same time I felt pressured. Why it feels like I’m being tested? They do competitions, don’t they? That’s what I thought. 

“B-But, I don’t have swimsuits right now. How can I swim without one?” I asked. “We’ll figure it out. Come on! I can’t wait to race you!”

Some time later, we were at a swimming pool and I was given a swimming suit. A girl named Gou Matsuoka, who happened to be their club’s manager, gave me one. She was really happy when she saw me, “Yay! I’m so glad we have another guy who wants to join our club!” 

I didn’t even say yes, yet. So, they decided to test me. They really wanted to test me! I was so nervous, last time I swam was like before I was serious with figure skating championships. I forced myself to remember my training routine with Father. To test me, they set me up to race against one person, each style. Me against Haruka in freestyle, me against Makoto in backstroke, me against Rei in butterfly, and me against Nagisa in breaststroke. I didn’t know why I even following this. 

I huffed and puffed and then collapsed on the floor after the set of four swimming styles races. Although each of them was 50 meter, I still collapsed. My performance was a bit stepback from how I was before this. But, to my disbelief, I beat the four of them, tightly, like miliseconds, especially with Haruka. He was so damn fast. “You guys…are crazy…you were super fast…like…pros.” I said in huffed voice.   
“Kai-chan, you’re beyond awesome! I believe you can even nailed the Olympics! How did you learn to swim?” Nagisa asked me. 

“My…father…I learned from him.” I sat up to look at Nagisa, Rei, Makoto, Haruka, and Gou who were surrounding me. 

“Your father?” Nagisa asked again. “He trained me really hardcore. But I never joined swimming competitions and such. Only one sports to me that I only bother to join its’ competition.” 

I told them and I felt like an anger welled up inside me because it made me remind figure skating again. “And what is that?” This time Makoto asked me. 

“It’s something else. To be honest, I was wondering if you guys do competitions. But, this race just answered it, right?” I stood up from the ground and then looked at them. Their looks just like wondering what will be my next move. 

“Look, if you remember what I said before, I’m only ‘checking’ this club out. But, you guys were really pushing me to the point it made me uncomfortable.” I turned and made my way to the changing room. I turned my head to them, “Don’t expect much from me.”

I dried myself and changed back into my school uniform. And then, I heard a door opened and Makoto came in. “Roberts-kun, did-“, before he spoke more I cut him in, “Just call me Kai. It will be trouble to pronounce my last name.” I told him and then Makoto lightly laughed. 

“Alright, then, Kai-kun. Umm, we’re really sorry if we pushed you so hard there. I know that we looked really desperate for new members back there.” True dat, “As the team captain, I feel ashamed that we really missed our main reason.” I raised my eyebrows because of curiousity, “What you said before, it made us looked like we are a team of swimmers who want to swim for competitions, because of how desperate we were. It made me remember something. We don’t swim for competitions. We swim because we found it fun. We feel that we are free when we swim.” Makoto explained to me. 

“It’s been stressful when the school expects much from us. So, I think that’s why-“ I cut his words because I was feeling bad already. “I get it, senpai. I’m sorry too that I put my anger on you guys. I just have something personal with competitions, championships, and anything related to that. And it isn’t good. I wasn’t really thinking straight. I kind of lost it there and forget that I want to be in a club’s activity for fun.” I told him. 

“Well, I’ll reconsider. I’m going to head back. See you, senpai.” I walked out from the changing room and said my goodbyes to the others.

I finally reached home and my muscles felt really sore. “I’m home!” I received no response from Obaa-chan and Mother. But then, someone else walked up to the front door. “Ah, Yamazaki-san? You’re here today?” I asked him in surprise. 

“Yeah. Just watching the house while grandma and your mother are gone.” He replied. “Hm? To where?” I asked again. “To the market nearby. They already gone from an hour ago, they should be back soon.” Sousuke replied. “Alright, I’m going shower now.” He nodded and I walked past him. But then, I heard a sniffing sound, which I bet it was Sousuke’s, but I let it go. 

After I came down from my room, cleaning myself up, Obaa-chan and Mother still weren’t home yet. “Yamazaki-san, are you hungry? I can fix dinner right now if Obaa-chan and Mother aren’t home anytime soon.” 

I looked at him who was watching the TV. “Sure. Can I help you make it?” I smiled at his response. “Y-Yeah. Can you pick up the milk and cheese from the fridge? I’m going to fetch something upstairs.” 

We were making mac and cheese that night. Sousuke just learned about the recipe from me. I showed him the steps and helped me with cooking.

“Hey, Kai?” I heard Sousuke called me when I was stirring the macaroni and cheese together. “Yeah?” Sousuke sat behind the counter. 

“Why did you smell like chlorine when you got home?” Well, that was straightforward. And that explained him sniffing me earlier. I turned to face him with a laddle on my hand. 

“I was about to search for a club to join at my school. I met with the school’s swim club. And then, to my surprise, I was taken to the swimming pool where they practice. Here, try this.” I offered a bit of the mac and cheese, which was on the laddle. 

“Is it too salty or not?” Sousuke took a bite and he shook his head, signaling that that it’s not salty. I went back to the stove, stirring the mac and cheese. 

“And then what happened?” Sousuke asked. “Well, I was told to race against each of their members, in different styles. They are four of them, and each of them raced me with different styles.” I told him. 

It was a short silence for a while “Did you beat them?” He asked again. 

“Yeah, I did. But, I hadn’t been swimming for few years, I wasn’t confident with my ability at all.” I told him. 

“So, you swim?” Sousuke threw me another question and I realized that he was kind of scanning me with his stares. 

“Y-Yeah, but I’m not aiming for going nationals or something. Eventhough I like it, there’s other sport that I like more.” 

Sousuke kept quiet for a while and before he could ask me another question I already finished my cooking. I poured the mac and cheese into a big bowl and put it in front of him. I also put a spoon in it. “Here. You’re big guy and an athlete, so eat.” Sousuke looked at me and then he gave me a questioned look. 

“This is all for me? How about you?” I pointed at the stove, “There’s still a little bit of leftovers. But I’m sure that you can’t finish this one bowl, alone.” Sousuke grunted. “Thanks for the food.”

Several minutes later, Sousuke seemed to slow down. I didn’t take any bites before and just look at him eating. “You okay? You know, you just passed half way.” 

His face was looking at the bowl and it almost likely that he said, I cannot give in but I must give in. I grinned widely noticing that he’s about to give up. So, I picked my spoon. “Alright, I’ll help you.” 

I jumped to my seat that was on his right, but then I accidentally bumped into him and he winced painfully. “Hey, careful.” He told me off and I said my apology. I ate the mac and cheese with him and he continued to eat slowly. 

We finally finished that thing off, including the leftovers. And then we slouched on the sofa. “Why was that so heavy?” Sousuke asked and I chuckled. “Well, I’m known for being able to make a monstrous mac and cheese like that.” 

We laughed after that and heaved a huge sigh. “But, it was fun. Your face was funny when you’re about to give up.” I laughed at him. “Shut up,” And then he turned his head to me. “But, it’s still a good meal. Thanks.” 

When he smiled at me, I felt heat rising up on my face. W-what’s happening to me, that’s what I thought. And then, suddenly the front door opened and revealed Obaa-chan and Mother, holding plastic bags. Sousuke immediately helped them with their bags.

“Ah, Sousuke-kun, you’re still here? I thought you’re already going back to your dorm.” Obaa-chan told him. “I’m sorry that we’re late. A little bit trouble at the market there.” Mother continued. 

“It’s okay. Is there anything else I can do?” Sousuke asked. “No, we’re okay, dear. Thank you. But, have you eat dinner?” Obaa-chan asked. “Yeah, I made him mac and cheese.” 

Then, Mother face turned into a little bit of horror. “Are your stomach alright, dear? His mac and cheese can be-“ Sousuke cut in, “terrifying. I know. But it’s still good and I survived, with his help of course.” Sousuke pointed his head at my direction and Mother laughed at the response. 

“I guess I should head out now. Don’t want to miss the last train.” Sousuke said. “Okay, then. Thank you so much, Sousuke-kun.” Mother said and Obaa-chan also said thank you soon after. “You’re welcome.” 

Then, Sousuke turned to me. “Thanks again for the food, Kai.” Sousuke told me. “Sure thing. Be careful on your way back!” I waved at him. Well, I don’t know why, but I felt glad. The same feeling when I get new friends.


End file.
